About

$5,455

pledged of $5,000 goal

131

backers

Paul Brooks of PRB Leather Co crafts simple, practical, well designed leather goods. Our goal for this Kickstarter project is to produce a series of minimalist wallets that are streamlined but functional and hold just enough to keep life simple.

Your support:

By supporting this project, you will help a seasoned leather worker return to his trade and complete a unique series of simple leather goods. The funds we receive from your support will be used to purchase the supplies and tools used to make the minimalist wallets. Once this project is finished, we will be set up for success and have the tools needed to craft additional leather projects.

Your reward:

We are offering handcrafted minimalist leather wallets as rewards for your support. Each wallet is thin, flat, sturdy, and fits easily and comfortably in your pocket or small purse. They hold just enough for you to carry what you need (a few cards, some cash) without adding clutter. Even your choices are simple: you pick the stitching color for your wallet and whether you want added personalizations. The rest is up to the craftsman!

Our team:

PRB Leather Co goods are crafted by Paul himself, but the project is a true family collaboration. This close-knit family of six all love the ocean and believe in a hard working, simple life.

Paul R Brooks - The craftsman and primary designer of PRB Leather Co products. Father of four, husband of 34 years, concrete mason, artist, Floridian, organizer, packer & shipper, motivator, product give-away-er (who has to be held back from giving away too much).

Levi Brooks - Product durability tester, fisherman, mechanic, electrician, alligator hunter, Floridian. (With his adventurous lifestyle, you can be sure that the wallets are well tested and can withstand just about anything.)

Massey Brooks - Architecture student, sounding board, product designer and tester, artist, professional hand-stander, athlete, currently learning ukulele in his home in Hawaii.

How we got here:

Over the past 5 years, Paul’s kids began giving him some basic leather tools and a few scraps of leather as gifts. They knew that he loved working with leather and wanted to get back into the craft. Paul soon picked up his tools and set out to finish a half-complete project that he started for Connie when they first got married.

One day, Carrie asked her dad to design a “minimalist” wallet for her. At the time, Paul didn’t know what that meant, but he soon learned!

Many designs and prototypes followed:

These included both longer wallets and folding wallets that could hold flat bills. Paul tried out different stitching types, designs, and functions. The wave, symbolizing our home near the ocean, developed during this process but remained in each design.

He began giving away wallets to family and friends. After using the wallets for awhile, they gave him lots of helpful feedback. In the end, we settled on the simplest, most minimal version that would fit nicely in pockets and small bags while still holding cash and cards well.

Once we had the wallet design squared away, we began working on our branding. Paul wanted to use the same name he'd come up with in his twenties. Hillery drew up a logo design, made some business cards, and sent away for a copper stamp.

And with that, PRB Leather Co is back in business!

What comes next:

We (Paul and Connie) will visit a local leather shop to handpick full sheets of leather hide for the minimalist wallets. We will also stock up on the leather lace and colored sinew used to stitch the wallets.

Additional tools will be purchased. Manufacturing (in our home-based leather workshop) will begin. This will include cutting the leather into the proper shapes and sizes, stamping it with our copper logo stamp, hand-staining the leather with a combination of brown, red, and yellow dyes, hand-punching the holes for stitching, and hand-stitching the wallets with leather lace or colored sinew thread.

Packing & shipping will follow. We will personally handle label-making and the shipping process. Because our campaign is set to end in mid-November, wallets should be in your hands in time for Christmas.

Thank you!

We are so appreciative of the interest and support we have already been given, and want to thank everyone in advance for helping make this project a reality.

Risks and challenges

We don't anticipate any production challenges and we fully expect to complete this project on time as described. We will make sure you receive updates if there are any delays for unforeseen reasons. International shipping can be challenging at times, because it is difficult to track and predict delivery times and often takes longer than expected. We appreciate your patience with international delivery and will do everything possible to ensure that you receive your wallets in the most timely manner possible.